Editorial: Improving local economy offers opportunities

MARIN'S ECONOMY is rebounding and we need to find ways to attract new businesses and keep those that are growing from moving out of the county.

That's what the experts say. We agree.

Marin, thanks to a variety of factors, including its business diversification, has not seen its economy completely derail, as has taken place in other parts of California.

We took some painful hits during the recession and the sluggish recovery. Many businesses downsized or closed. Jobs were lost and property values declined. Many homeowners found themselves permanently underwater with their mortgages.

But Marin's economy has found its legs. Unemployment, which remained the lowest California through the Great Recession, is dropping. Some businesses see this as an opportunity to grow, reposition themselves or move.

Per-capita personal income has grown 9.32 percent since the 2009 downturn. It's not back to pre-recession levels, but it's headed there, according to the Fall 2012 Marin Economic Bulletin issued by the Marin Economic Forum, an organization of business and governmental leaders.

Jobs and rising incomes generate retail sales and create opportunities for more people to find work.

Marin needs to work harder to make sure the county is a good place to start and grow a business.

Marin long has been a business incubator, especially in the tech sector, but the county needs to do a better job of being a help rather than a hindrance. Taking steps to make sure Marin remains an important part of Lucasfilm's future should be a top priority for local leaders.

Experts, at a recent forum on the local economy, said it is likely that Disney's ownership will boost business for Lucasfilm divisions that still operate in Marin.

Robert Eyler, chief executive officer of the Marin Economic Forum, says Disney's acquisition may be "a great opportunity" for Marin.

We hope he's right. Hundreds of high-paying Marin jobs are at stake.

These workers are important to the entire Marin economy, particularly retail, which has been getting stronger. In the second quarter of 2012, sales tax receipts rose 6.4 percent over the same period last year.

That's a good sign.

In Larkspur, Tiburon and Sausalito, sales tax growth was in double digits.

The forum also warned of an uncertain outlook for commercial space, where both prices and vacancies are higher than in other Bay Area communities. Prices are out of sync with demand, which may be resulting in friends considering opportunities here to look elsewhere for their space.

That issue needs to be addressed and strategies shaped to start filling long-empty spaces, especially if Marin wants to be competitive in attracting and keeping innovators and entrepreneurs.

Marin is still a desirable place to live, but it can't simply rely on that advantage to attract and keep businesses. There is too much at stake given that filling that vacant space will have a "multiplier effect" that can boost many sectors of the economy.

It is encouraging that the outlook for Marin's economy is strong.

We've already seen the alternative over the past several years.

Those difficult times underscore the important role business plays in the quality of life of our communities.